WHAT FLOSS AND TRUTH DID TO ME

So I'm a bit of a tooth-flossing fanatic.

It started 12 years ago when I saw an episode of Oprah (no, seriously) that said it can literally take years off your life NOT to floss. Well, done. I became a flosser. Anyone who bought stock in floss before that episode aired is sitting pretty today. (You're welcome.)

But flossing has had an annoying little side effect:

Now I have to do it.

Because now I can totally feel if there's anything in there. And it will drive me up a tree until I can get it out.

Wasn't it better when I wasn't so aware of what was in there? Maybe. But what I wasn't aware of was causing problems.

Being in the Word has done that, too. It has shone a spotlight on all the junk in my heart, all the things that shouldn't be there, and all the stuff that needs to go.

Wasn't it better when I wasn't so aware of what was in there? Maybe. But what I wasn't aware of was causing problems.

So now when pride is prevalent in me, I'm more aware it's there. Its presence is grating and glaring until I actually deal with it. When I am self-centered, the Word makes it obvious--and I have to do something about it. My lack of grace is too in-my-face to avoid. My bitterness is undeniable, and my disobedience too discernible to deny.

That's a lot to bring to the surface. It's annoyingly obvious that I have such a long way to go--and in so many ways. Wasn't it better when I wasn't so aware of what was in there?

I'm not so sure.

Search me, O God, and know my heart,
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24

Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the LORD.
Lamentations 3:40

I am grateful for Your Word. Yes, it illuminates my weakness and magnifies my desperate need for You, and while that's not always easy, it is necessary. I can't be all You created me to be apart from it. I need You to use these God-breathed words to sanctify me through and through.